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AGO eyes closer antigraft collaboration with KPK, police
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Enforcing the law: Attorney General M.Prasetyo (left) is accompanied by his deputy Arminsyah as he gives a press statement in Jakarta on Jan.9. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)
T
he Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced on Tuesday that it aims to strengthen its ties with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police in handling graft cases this year.
Although the AGO had more manpower and similar wiretapping technology to those used by the KPK, the latter had more power with investigations, said Attorney General HM Prasetyo.
Prasetyo said the AGO was required to obtain permits before conducting raids, making arrests and wiretapping a suspect, while the KPK did not.
“The AGO can only use a wiretap in investigation-level cases, while in fact, wiretapping is the important part of a preliminary investigation,” he said.
“I am currently in talks with the KPK about collaborating in certain [graft] cases that require the KPK's authority.”
Should the AGO be given similar authority to that of the KPK, he was optimistic that the AGO could settle more corruption cases in the country, Prasetyo added.
The AGO handled 1,331 corruption cases at the preliminary investigation level last year, 1,918 cases at the investigation level and 1,364 at the prosecution level.
Meanwhile, the KPK handled 114 cases at the preliminary investigation level, 118 cases at the investigation level and 94 cases at the prosecution level.
The 2002 KPK Law allows the antigraft body to only handle graft cases that incur Rp 1 billion (US$74,400) in state losses. (ebf)
